Can high nitrates effect clownfish egg development?

[Lou Young]

I have had a little success with breeding clowns so far but I recently went on vacation and didn't do any maintenance for almost 2 weeks. My clownfish laid a nest during that time. I hatched them out but they all died between day 3-4. This is first time this happened and I didn't know why. I did water test and only parameter that was high was nitrates. It was 80-100ppm. Pretty red. So, could this be the reason the clownfish larvae died, because the nitrates were so high during their incubation period?
Thanks Lou

 

[deangelr]

I would bet it was ammonia.. But not sure.. Nitrates are possible, though not as toxic to fish as nitrite or ammonia

 

[ernieq]

Nitrates have never been a concern for my fry. Ammonia is the killer.